"Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever." ~ Walt Disney

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03 October 2012

Arlo needs glasses

Fortunately Arlo's story is one of love, concern and creativity, unlike Missy's. Animal lovers would nod on Arlo needs glasses by Barney Saltzberg. Families with dogs might be interested too.

It's not just the story I am interested in. Arlo Needs Glasses is an interactive picture book. What children do not like names on pages that appear in equivalent of lights with letters that are outlined in different hues? They get to pull a tab and be part of the activities in the story.

An eye chart in the doctor's office is shown on this book. Letters blur with the pull of a tab giving readers the idea of what the lead character might be seeing. It would even be more interesting to be able to detect words, which reviews of this book, suggest are hidden in the eye chart.

Saltzberg spells out "phoropter," he uses the Broadway-marquee lettering, as if children are picking up a party favor when they look through the accordion-style fancy-dancy binoculars. At the very bottom, in tiny letters, a prognosis awaits: "Arlo (the dog) needs glasses."

True to being interctive, a trio of glasses in slipcases mounted on the page are provided for kids to try on Arlo. I wonder which among choices of Movie Star, Superhero and Mad Scientist spectacles will my kids, or yours want to try on themselves.

The book provides awareness of eye problem solutions for children. It tells young minds things to expect at the optometrist's office. Like Saltzberg's Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses is a book about solving problems with humor all the way. It seems everything one would expect in an interactive picture story are packed in this book.

4 comments:

I love to read childrens books. Haha! And its really nice to use these type of books for the learning the kids. Its easy to read and understand at their age. Though, I still don't have kids of my own, I enjoy reading these for myself. haha!